Bad weather closes Cooks Gardens

Cooks Gardens has been closed and regular users warned to stay away, amid fears that floodlights damaged by the weekend's wild weather could fall to the ground.
The tower of lights nearest the Wanganui District Council building was damaged in the strong winds on Saturday night, leaving a row of lights broken free of its brackets.
The lights have slipped from their usual position and the tower is on a lean.
In a memo to users of the grounds, Events Wanganui said the situation was potentially hazardous and the chances of the lights falling to the ground were high.
To ensure the safety of the public and other users of the grounds, the gates to the gardens have been locked until further notice.
When weather conditions permit, the lights will be lowered to the ground between the Ward Observatory and the tower to be fixed.
Other light towers will also be checked.
Along with the light, the handrail fell off the balcony of the Cooks Gardens Bell Tower as a result of the weather.
Elsewhere, the rough weather over the weekend brought down slips, blocked drains, closed roads and caused delays across the region.
Strong winds saw roading contractors out with shovels after the heavy rain caused slips and trees to come down.
In Kai Iwi, a slip came down on Rangitatau East Rd and a fallen tree blocked Holmwood Rd in Kaitoke.
Further afield, trees fell on to State Highway 4 overnight on Sunday near Fields Track and the Ruakawa Falls, not quite blocking the whole road but requiring motorists to drive with extra care.
A Wanganui District Council spokeswoman said the infrastructure team was out most of the weekend keeping culverts clear of a near-constant stream of debris.
A lightning strike on the Bastia Hill Water Tower saw the wireless network taken down.
The network outage affected the Gonville Cafe Library and other wireless systems but the library was still able to operate using the same system the mobile library uses.
The pole fuses were also blown at the Water Tower.
Whether any equipment had been damaged could not be ascertained until the power was back on, the spokeswoman said.
Major power blips meant the protection systems cut in and bore protection shutdowns occurred at the Abelard and Heloise bores as a precaution.
Ruapehu District Council transport team leader Warren Furner said constant heavy rain since Friday had further saturated already waterlogged soils, causing many slips and washouts.
As of yesterday morning, there were two closed roads in the district, Okahukura Saddle Rd, which was blocked by a slip, and Oio Rd, which had been undermined by a large sinkhole.
The Okahukura Saddle Rd had since reopened and the Oio Rd was open to a single lane by yesterday afternoon.
Whanganui and regional police did not report any major instances of damage, although there was debris on roads in Marton because of blustery winds on Saturday night.
MetService has issued a heavy rain warning for inland Taranaki to Tongariro National Park, including the headwaters of the Whanganui River.
Periods of rain and isolated thunderstorms were expected throughout today, with 70mm-90mm of rain predicted to fall overnight, accumulating about the higher slopes of Mt Ruapehu, and 40mm-70mm expected to fall elsewhere.
The heaviest falls were expected to hit in the afternoon, with 10mm-15mm of rain per hour and thunderstorms.
For Wanganui, MetService predicted intermittent rain and strong gusty westerlies, and said conditions could approach warning thresholds.
They advised people to keep up to date with forecasts in case further warnings became necessary.
Yesterday, Wanganui District Council emergency manager Max Benseman said that the Whanganui River was below alert levels and was expected to drop further.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Wanganui District Council has issued these pleas:

Landowners are asked to look after their own drainage channels and streams on private property and keep them clear of debris. This will help to ensure the drainage network does not become blocked.
If members of the public see a leaf-cluttered sump, clear the leaves. Wind strips leaves off trees faster than council contractors can clear them. If everyone helps, it makes it better for everyone.
The council's engineering team is looking for photographs of the recent storm damage as evidence of the effect of heavy rain events. This will help the team to understand how the district's natural and built environment responds to rain events. Please post or email images, which should be date stamped, with your name, contact number and the location the photograph was taken.
It is also important to state the time (to the nearest hour) that the photograph was taken, to link the image to the rain record.
Images should be sent to: Collie Siew, Infrastructure Group, Wanganui District Council, PO Box 637, Wanganui or email collie.siew@wanganui.govt.nz